Cruising around italy and then ta

[lovinlife1245]

My husband and I along with several other couples will be cruising around Italy in October. We start in Venice, Rome, Naples, Florence and the onto some other cities before our Transatlantic Home.

Char

[Joy_K]

HI Char, fancy meeting you here. Great idea setting up a chat where we can keep up.

[jjssitters]

Home Sweet Home

[lovinlife1245]

Hopefully now you will post more Jane. This is almost exactly like CC

Joy and I were saying it will be valuable for our trip to the UK and Scotland next year as well

[kylea_s]

Whew a I found you all. However the only way I could do it was to click on the lnk on your invite Char. How do I get here with a normal search?

Looking forward to sharing ideas in a less frantic format aand maybe being able to find somehting that someone talked about a couple of hours ago.

[justducky21]

Thanks for the invitation Char. This is a great idea. Maybe we can actually talk about the trip!

[lovinlife1245]

it is Independenttraveler.com

and this thread is under the Europe Italy section but easier just to save in your favs

[lovinlife1245]

Will you tell bill where we are at?

[kylea_s]

Yep, ill let him know. Today is a big ole radio contest day. He will be cooked when he gets home. Its 85 still here so he probably wont check in for a day or two.

Ive been trying to figure out the hOHO buses in Barcelona. We want to go to Las Pamblas and then off to the Gaudi 'unfinished' church. Any knowledge if thats doable on the bus or should we just find a cab?

[lovinlife1245]

Personally, I think I would do the Ho Ho first because I am sure it stops at the church, you should go up to the Park the Gaudi built also, and then after that hop off at Los Ramblas and take a cab back to the ship.

As I recall the ship docks quite a way from the center of town. We took a cab back last time and it wasn't too bad as far as cost was concerned. I think the way you are doing is both economical and will allow you to see a lot. This is where we saw the naked man last time with tattoos all over his body at first I thought I was seeing things but I wasn't. It was quite "interesting" for lack of a better word.

Char

[MaryKay]

I'm here.
I had a little trouble getting in but now it is fine.
-mk

[jjssitters]

Girls you need an avatar, I also brought Elfie with me

[lovinlife1245]

Here are the routes for the Ho Ho in Barcelona

Itinerary: Discover Barcelona using three tour routes. Your ticket is valid on ALL routes.
Northern Route (Red Line):

• Placa de Catalunya
• Casa Batllo - Fundacio Antoni Tapies
• Passeig de Gracia - La Pedrera
• Sagrada Familia
• Gracia
• Parc Guell
• Tramvia Blau - Tibidabo
• Sarria
• Monestir de Pedralbes - Col.leccio Thyssen
• Palau Reial - Pavellons Guell
• Barcelona Football Club
• Francesc Macia - Diagonal
• MACBA - CCCB

Southern Route (Blue Line):

• Placa de Catalunya
• Casa Batllo - Fundacio Antoni Tapies
• Passeig de Gracia - La Pedrera
• Francesc Macia - Diagonal
• Estacio de Sants
• Creu Coberta
• Placa d'Espanya
• Caixa Forum - Pavello Van Der Rohe
• Poble Espanyol
• MNAC
• Anella Olimpica
• Funicular de Montjuïc
• Fundacio Joan Miro
• Miramar - Jardins Costa i Llobera
• World Trade Center
• Colom - Museu Maritim
• Port Vell
• Museu d'Historia de Catalunya
• Port Olimpic
• Place de la Citadel - Zoo
• Pla de Palau
• Barri Gotic

Donna

The Red one has the church you want to see as well the Park I was telling you about.

[kylea_s]

Char, thanks for all the info on the HOHO and even more for the suggestion to do it first. That makes all the sense in the world. Iit maybe gets us to the attractions before they get crazy crowded and allows us to sit at a cafe when we actually may be looking for a place to rest a bit. You know thats whats missing over on a board where there would be 99 posts about the weather,etc between a question and an answer.

[lovinlife1245]

Donna

I saw on viator where you can buy your ticket for the Ho Ho there and save 10% - granted that's not a lot but hey every little bit helps.

char

[mmwc]

Thanks Char so much for inviting us here. What a great idea. I/we will not miss the currency updates, weather updates and ship locations.

We look forward to reading the posts here and gathering more info for our first Med. cruise.

Midge

[justducky21]

Regarding the excursion to St. Mark's on the day we board the ship, what time did it leave the ship? I'm thinking about doing this one since I backed out on it in 2007. It sounds like it's worth it.

Ramah

[Joy_K]

Donna In BCN I would recommend taking a cab to Sagrada Familia (Gaudi’s unfinished church). It opens at 9 and the HOHO does not start running until 9. I remember reading before last trip about how crowded SF can get and it is best to be there when (before for outside photos) they open to avoid lines. Also, when you first get there I have read to go directly to the elevator to the top before the lines get too long—extra ticket/fee to do this. We had to decide what was more important to us last time and picked something else to see first and by the time we got to the church the lines were huge so we just took pictures around the outside which is what we pretty much knew we would do since we didn’t go there first. We found the cabs very reasonable last trip and especially if you have 4 people sharing as we did. We also used the Metro without any problem; it just takes a little more planning. Whatever means of transportation you decide to use I am sure you will have a wonderful day.

[kylea_s]

Ive been reading around the other boards and saw the importance of getting to SF very early. There seems to be a question of being able to get a cab from the port anywhere. Some folks commented about waiting 2 hours for one. There is a shuttle or has been a shuttle to the Columbus Circle. Is that where you would suggest the cab or do you recall there being plentiful? I also found some diections on using the Metro from Columbus Circle to SF. It sounds like it is right at the Metro stop.

[lovinlife1245]

Ramah

That excursion left the ship before it started getting dark because they want to take you down the Grand Canal just at sunset and it is really fabulous. Then when you arrive at the church it is dark and when you enter the church is really dark. It is really breathtaking when they start turning up the lights. They start with just a light far in a corner and turn them up a little at a time. When they light up the altar which is golden is really impressive. Be sure to book as soon as it comes out because it sells out early.

You get back to the ship around 10:30 or 11:00 I think - just in time for a snack. LOL

Char

[lovinlife1245]

Donna

That line at the church is really long - I remember when we were there even on a private tour it was long.

As I recall the lines for cabs were long that day too - we are a long way from the town.

You are going to have to be inventive on this one.

Char

[lovinlife1245]

Midge

So glad you found us. You will actually get some information here.

Char

[Joy_K]

I think the key to getting a cab would be to get off the ship early. I think we were in the first handful last time and kinda seems like we may have been the first ones. We had no trouble last time getting a cab and my notes say it only cost 10€ to go to the top of Las Ramblas to the tourist office. There is also a train stop very close to the Columbus monument as we took the train back at the end of the day then a cab from the monument to the ship. Metro L2 and L5 both take you to SF.

You probably already found this, but if not look here http://www.sagradafamilia.cat/sf-eng...informacio.php

[jjssitters]

Regarding the excursion to St. Mark's on the day we board the ship, what time did it leave the ship? I'm thinking about doing this one since I backed out on it in 2007. It sounds like it's worth it.

Ramah

Ramah if you book that I would like to join you

[justducky21]

Jane - I would love to have you join me. If you'll do it, I will keep an eye out for the shore excursions on line and book it when it comes out.

I stayed on board the last time and really enjoyed the concert that was held but this sounds like fun!

Ramah